The present invention relates to an apparatus for the folding of croissants.
It should be stated beforehand that in the field of food products, the term croissant refers to a pastry product folded in a half-moon shape.
The current production process of croissants is generally as described below.
The pastry is cut into triangles which are then rolled up: a machine of this type operates on several rows to obtain a sufficient production capacity. In order to reach the desired capacity, the machines, in fact, generally operate on six rows at a time.
During the rolling operation, an additional component may or may not be inserted, such as cream, chocolate, jam, etc., which forms the so-called filling of the croissant.
At the end of the rolling operation, the croissants, with or without an additional component, fall onto a collecting belt from which they are removed by the operating staff, manually folded and deposited on a belt or baking-trays.
It should be noted that the folding should be effected with the point of the pastry triangle situated under the croissant, i.e. between the croissant and the supporting surface. In particular, the folding operation is correctly performed when the end of the triangle is situated at a point ranging from the middle to the front part of the croissant itself.
It should be pointed out that the operators should pay particular attention to this aspect. If this is not the case, the croissant, after leavening and baking, will lose its characteristic shape.
It should also be remembered that the product, after folding, can be sent for freezing, or leavening followed by freezing, or leavening followed by baking, depending on the specific requirements.
In view of these problems, it should be noted that many attempts have been made for the mechanized and/or automatic folding of rolled pastry, but without any success as of today.
An objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for the folding of croissants as described above which overcomes the technical problems previously met.
A further objective is to effect a correct folding of the rolled pastry which prevents the formation of subsequent defects.
Another objective is to obtain a mechanization of the folding process currently effected manually.
Yet another objective is to provide an apparatus for the folding of croissants which has a simple structure and is easy to operate.
These and other objectives according to the present invention are achieved by means of an apparatus for the folding of croissants as illustrated in claim 1.
Further characteristics of the invention are described in the subsequent claims.